Nov 26 - Thanksgiving Day 2020

+ Our responsorial refrain cries out today: Blessed are they who are called to the wedding feast of the Lamb. On this Thanksgiving Day, 2020, we are called to reflect on the life of blessing that is available to us all, and that we do enjoy – being the recipient of God’s manifold gifts and graces.

Absolutely everything we are and have come from Him, are sustained by Him, and are directed to Him, for His glory, and the best good for everyone and everything!

This is the priority that we must keep in our minds and in our hearts: we are all called to the Wedding Feast of the Lamb in the new heaven, and the new earth, that is surely coming down the pike. Everything we think, say and do each day, must someway, somehow be directed to that end.

Our forefathers were grounded in faith, and it was the steering factor, the great anchor for all they accomplished and planned for themselves and for future generations. Without God, without the aid of his Blessed Mother Mary, who is the Patroness of these United States – we are doomed to failure and devastation; but with them we set a course for true prosperity and greatness: here and hereafter.

We are challenged more this Thanksgiving Day probably than any other in the history of our memories: COVID has claimed the lives of more than a quarter of a million of our dearest and most precious loved ones: all of whom were doubly victimized because they had to die alone, and without the comfort and assistance of loved ones at their bedside! There is the last end vestiges as well of a cataclysmic presidency with one who clearly belongs in a mental institution and not the People’s House in Washington, DC. There is an economic crisis that will take decades to repair. There remains racial injustice and police brutality as much today as when the horrific scenes played out on our TV screens this past summer and in our city streets! There will be no return to the normal that we once knew: but again with the advent of a new and stable presidency come Jan 20, perhaps there is cause for a springtime of new hope, new empathy, new compassion, new ideas, new actions, and new LOVE that will begin to transform the country, and indeed the world into something better than we even can imagine now.

In any and every event we must not forget the GOD OF PROMISES: who promises peace, and prosperity and abundance and security, and health and wholeness for all of us! Truly!

And so, we are most grateful today for our FAITH, for the HOPE engendered by it, and by selfless acts of human helpfulness that we can do, especially by staying socially distanced, masked and at home, and LOVE – especially to the most wayward and forgotten, poor, the sick and lonely – which demonstrate it.

“When the days of tribulation arrive and the signs begin to happen – let us stand erect with joyful, grateful hearts, raise our eyes to the Cross of Christ manifest in the skies and welcome the New Day which is full of promise, peace and prosperity beyond our wildest imaginings.”

Our redemption is close at hand, and we are glad!

Happy Thanksgiving to all!